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is there a crack in the democrats' support of majority leader harry reid? one colleague isn't ruling out action against the nevada senator for comments against then presidential candidate barack obama's race. a judge says the suspect in the murder of an abortion doctor can argue that his actions were justified because he was saving unborn children. a legal decision that has many people fearing violence at the high-profile trial. and the fallout from mark mcguire's admission he used steroids. even the admission itself, if you saw it, had its own asterisks. we'll see how his confession is playing out for fans at home in st. louis. the king of mean prepares to say good-bye. simon cowell announcing this will be his final season on "american idol." contestants may be glad to see him go, but will "idol" viewers

go as well? i'm peter alexander live in new york city. thank you for joining us on msnbc. we want to begin this hour with more breaking news we've been covering on msnbc. north carolina officials have shut down one of the ports on the east coast because of an explosion risk. city spokesperson says nine containers of highly explosive materials have been punctured at the port of morehead city. as you see on your map, it's a little north of wilmington in the state of north carolina. they're recommending the city's entire downtown area be evacuated and are telling any residents that choose to stay that they need to keep away from doors and windows. department of homeland security source now says it is believed that that explosive in the drums is petn, a major explosive agent that's used in detonating a variety of explosives. it's significant because it's also the same kind of explosive that a 23-year-old nigerian man tried to use to blow up that airliner on christmas day. homeland security source,

however, says they have no indication this is anything other than a forklift accident. we're trying to get new information from the office of emergency management as we get that information, we will pass it on to you. also, making news today, senate majority leader harry reid still cleaning up the political mess today from revelations that he referred to barack obama's light skin and lack of a, quote, negro dialect during the 2008 presidential campaign. republicans are keeping up the heat, calling this a double standard for democrats. at least one prominent democrat is also now expressing some serious concern. take a listen for to what senator russ finegold of wisconsin had to say, followed by senator john mccain's comments on this matter. >> very unfortunate. should never have been said. i really am disappointed. >> will you call for his censor? >> i'll meet with senator reid, my democratic colleagues and talk about what should be done. >> i didn't know those kind of words were still an american

lexicon also, by the way, i must comment that in a stunning double standard as far as the treatment of senator lott, who also made unfortunate and inopportune remarks and the treatment of harry reid by the liberal left -- >> joining us now, luke russert, live on capitol hill. luke, russ feingold says democrats will talk about what should be done, a possible censure. what is the likelihood anything shy of them demanding a resignation, what's the likelihood of a censure happening? >> reporter: it's not likely. russ feingold is one of the more liberal members, who likes to take the moral high ground on a lot of issues. here is what would have to happen for anything to occur to harry reid, that someone prominent in the democratic party, real high up, would have to get the ball rolling for him to be severely disciplined. that's not going to happen. why? number one, the president of the united states, the leader of the party, the most important figurehead, says he accepts reid's apology, and doesn't feel

anything more should occur. african-american community seems to have accepted reid's apology, is not pressing for him to be subjected to anything else. and, lastly, the leadership in both parties is standing behind him. so, those three portions of the party solidly in support of harry reid, it doesn't look like much will occur. keep in mind, even if you want to get procedural, harry reid does control what comes to the floor, being the leader of the democratic party in the senate. so, it remains unclear how much exactly, if someone like russ feingold wanted to censure or something of that sort, how much they could possibly do. >> a lot has been said about the double standard between the democrats and republicans when it comes to the topic of race, specifically referring back to then senator trent lott and the comments he made about strom thurman at the time. this weekend the republican national chairman, michael steele, said if this had been mitch mcconnell who had made the comments this would have been different. mitch mcconnell had a news

conference and didn't want to touch the issue. >> i think it's an issue for the democratic conference. who is going to be the leader of the democratic senate is up to the democratic conference. >> i wanted to bring up a comment written by david brody who writes for the christian broadcasting network. he made the point, maybe republican congressmen should spend more time forging relationships and selling their political agenda to the black community. is there some sense that this is not just an issue about democrats and republicans in terms of their commentary on race, but in terms of their action in terms of race? >> reporter: you definitely heard that around here in the halls of capitol hill to a degree, peter. it's interesting, though. few republicans who i've spoken to who, while they would like to have the opportunity to go after harry reid and almost poke fun at him for this type of remark and really try to shame him, they also say it makes us look bad to some degree because we go back to this conversation of what mr. brody said for cbn,

which is can republicans have an adequate dialogue with african-americans? that is something that has been sensitive throughout the years, as you know. so -- but i think it will be interesting to see if anything really does formulate in the coming weeks with the relationships between the african-american community and republicans, because they might have a wedge here to exploit, peter. >> luke russert live on the capitol for us today. thank you very much. >> reporter: take care. also in washington, senator john mccain was on the defense as he fielded questions on this morning's "today" show about his failed presidential bid. specifically, the former republican presidential candidate answered charges that emerged in that new book "game change," that his team failed to properly vet sarah palin. mccain initially answered he did not know whether the vetting was adequate and then seemed to backtrack. take a listen. >> i've just spent my time over with three young americans who

were just killed in afghanistan. >> i respect that. >> that was over a year ago. >> i respect that, sir. >> i'm not going to get into it. i'm not going to get into it. >> your comment of i wouldn't know is somewhat surprising to me. you were the presidential candidate. >> look, i wouldn't know what the sources are, nor care. i know -- i do know, i do know that i'm proud of my campaign. i'm proud of sarah palin. >> that was john mccain this morning on the "today" show. mccain also said he remains happy in his new role and is presently focused on the issues of the day. back now to more breaking news in north carolina, officials again have shut down one of the deepest ports on the east coast because of an explosion risk. what they found there, according to sources, is an explosive known as petn. a spokesperson says nine containers of these materials have been punctured at the port of morehead city. officials are recommending, again, that the city's entire downtown area be evacuated. right now, we are being joined on the phone by the mayor of morehead city. if you can, very quickly, mayor,

give us a better understanding of the status in terms of the safety, mayor gerald jones, the safety of the people in morehead city right now. >> thank you for calling. yes, approximately at 4:40 this morning, the morehead city fire department was dispatched down to the port for hazardous material spill. once they arrived, they recognized then, identified it as the petn, which is explosive material. so, at that moment, we called our local military base installation and they dispatched their explosive ordinants disposal team out. we have evacuated morehead city port of half a mile. it is a voluntary evacuation at this point. we feel the product is contained. it's highly explosive and we're making the necessary precautions. we have advised people that in this area, in this safety zone

that if they feel uncomfortable, that they are to evacuate. if they choose to stay home, by all means, stay inside and away from windows and doors. >> mr. mayor, we appreciate you calling us from morehead city. it is good to know that folks in morehead city are okay. nine containers of morehead city, one of the deepest ports, as we noted, along the east coast, have been punctured with a highly explosive material inside. thank you very much. more breaking news. we'll put it up on your screen. this is a live chase in a state that knows them all too well. in california, police are chasing that vehicle on your screen right now. we are being told that this is near vernon, california. near vernon, california, outside of los angeles. what's significant about these chases so often, having covered them too often in southern california, is the risk to the oth others right now. you see the vehicle, police car safe distance behind, trying to track this vehicle. one of the challenges for officers always and has been a highly, hotly debated topic

there, is when these officers should intervene. they try often to throw spike strips to stop a vehicle like this. other times, they try to tip the back of the vehicle, to spin it out of control where they can then disable the vehicle and hopefully end that chase in a way that's have safe to all individuals. while we don't know enough about the circumstances here, it's unclear what the strategy is. as you watch it right now again, we are learning this is near vernon, california. because we're only watching it, i'll talk to my producer. can you give us a better sense exactly? do you know where they're driving right now? okay. so, right now, we're trying to speak to the pilots of this media news chopper that are following this chase right now. you can see the officer coming up right alongside this vehicle. this it is. as you've seen what he just did is disable the back of the car. now if the car -- done. the chase will be done and the question right now, as the officers approach this vehicle is exactly what the situation is, whether, in fact, the individual inside or individuals

have weapons inside. we do not know the circumstances surrounding this chase. as we noted only a short time ago, when officers think they can, in an effort to keep everybody safe, including themselves and the person inside that vehicle, they try to disable it by hitting it from behind. i traveled with the california highway patrol for a period of time in the past. this is something that they practice frequently. it's a maneuver that they use consistently. you can see the officer on the right side of the screen moving closer to that vehicle. officers are now surrounding that car, which you trust they wouldn't be doing if they saw the person inside holding a weapon up. we'll wait and watch exactly what happens here. again, right now, you are watching the conclusion of a police car chase near vernon, california. there are several choppers, as you saw passing through your screen. this, sadly, has become such a frequent occurrence throughout california. the television shows are even based on the process. and officers are forced to do

this on a near regular basis throughout that state. it appears, as best we can -- i'm trying to see at the top of your screen. is that -- at the top of your screen, is that -- they're moving him? that's the guy that got out of the car. they're checking inside right now to see if there are other individuals inside this vehicle. they're trying to get the trunk open as well to make sure no one is there. they're moving up to the individual, laying on the ground, the suspect here. at this point, it appears everybody is safe, which is the good news. are we going to stick with this, folks, or are we okay? okay. so, as they make an arrest on the screen right now, we are going to change to some other news making headlines. news of much more significance to a national audience. you can see the vice president, joe biden, who has just begun his eulogy for his own mother, jean biden. >> remarkable woman. she is the daughter of ambrose

and geraldine finnegan, growing up in scranton, pennsylvania. in the collective embrace of her four brothers, who she adored, jerry, bluit, bosey and her jackie. certain in their love, secure in their protection and nurtured by their loyalty and affection. by their words and by their deeds, they instilled in mom a sense of self confidence and competence, allowing her to learn to trust her instincts and never be afraid to take risks, knowing she was any machine n o woman's equal. as long as i can remember in scranton, mom was referred to by

her family, her extended family, her friends and neighbors as our jean. it's kind of a scranton thing, as the scrantonians know that are here. that was at least until she met the man she referred to as the most handsome man she ever met, joe biden from wilmington, delaware, our dad. in our view, mom was the soul spirit and essence of what it meant to be an irish-american mother, devoted to her roman catholic faith, proud of her irish heritage, fiercely, fiercely protective of her family and deeply committed to her husband and always loyal to her friends. to mom, the greatest virtue was courage. she taught her children that the

thickest of all substances was blood. jimmy, frankie, val and i, and all our family, have lived by that code. monsignor sini, bishop, all four of her children are so grateful to god, and i mean that from the bottom of my heart, that mom lived long enough for our children, our grandchildren and our great grandchildren to know her love and feel her strength. to each of us, it was not sufficient that she raised and nurtured us. we all wanted -- i mean this literally. we all want ed her to raise our children and our grandchildren and our great grandchildren. because we knew -- we knew mom could give them something we couldn't, at least not in the

same measure. those intangibles, confidence, balance, the feeling of absolute security and unconditional love and that total sense of what it meant to be family. consequently, i don't think -- i mean this literally -- i don't think there was a week that went by from the time our beau was born till the time our youngest grandson, nick, spent the night with her that there wasn't one of our children in her home, staying the night. we ferried them back and forth. we did it because we really did know if they knew mom, they

would get that special thing. mom-mom had that sixth sense, father byron, that i could never fully understand, but it was real. she just had a way, that we desperately wanted each of our children to feel it. she taught her children, grandchildren and her great grandchildren that you are defined by your sense of honor and you are redeemed by your loyalty. she was a quintessential combination of both optimism and pragmatism. heroic in her ideals, but solid in her expectations. she taught us that if your brother or sister loves someone, there must be something special about them, so embrace it. jill, jack and sarah are living

proof that she was right. she taught us that failure at some point was inevitable in everyone's life, but giving up -- giving up was unforgivable. she taught us to be respectful toward everyone, but differential to no one. our mother was proud on the edge of defiance, generous to a fault and committed to all those she loved till the end. she believed in us, so we believed in ourselves. how could we do less? when we triumphed, she was quick to remind us that it was because of others. there's no one better than you.

every man is your equal and every man deserves respect. that was her creed. that you must be a person of your word. for without your word, you have no honor. and without honor, you cannot be a biden. that was her word. she taught us -- she taught us never to be intimidated by power, wealth or station, that we did not have to accept social convention and we could set our own standards, one that was based on character alone. she called it the biden standard. and that if we did set such a standard, other people would respect it and respond to it.

mom taught us that courage was not defined by the lack of fear, but by the willingness to act in spite of your fears. that bravery lived in each of our hearts and that her expectation was that we would be s summoned to reach for it when necessary. she taught us that godse sends cross you cannot bear and that as long as you're alive, you have an obligation to strive and you're not dead until you've seen the face of god. my mother lived and died by that code. she never stopped striving. and now she has seen the face of god. it's as if dad whispered into god's ears the words of james

wheldon johnson, she's weary. go down, death, and bring her to me. mom is back in dad's embrace, where she belongs. and we're all at peace. >> you have been listening to the vice president of the united states, joe biden, in wilmington, delaware, immaculate heart of mary church, one of four children, jean biden. she died recently. today, given the eulogy to honor his mom's life, he said only a few years ago that -- in ace auto biography, she said you're not going to run for senate and ruin your reputation, are you? once mom was reassured that my future was safe, win or lose, she would do anything. you're watching msnbc. we'll be right back. new aches and pains,

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we're back with more news here on msnbc. we've learned u.s. forces have killed another top al qaeda leader, killed in a drone attack in north waziristan along the pakistan/afghan border, his brother is currently a prisoner at guantanamo bay. we'll head to afghanistan for a live report later this hour. nuclear physics professor who publicly backed the opposition in june's disputed presidential election was killed today in tehran, he died when a remote control bomb rigged to his motorcycle exploded. iran's government accuses the u.s. andies raily governments being involved in a bomb plot. u.s. states spokesperson calls that absurd. wall street's looming bonuses, how big their bonus

pools are and how the payouts are being allocated, cuomo demanded bonus information from the banks last year and published a report on those findings. last year the banks still had taxpayer bailout money, and were subject to limits. not anymore. the banks have mostly paid the money back and are no longer subject to those rules. a judge allows lawyers for the man accused of murdering an abortion doctor to argue scott roeder thought he was saving lives when he shot dr. george tiller. will this defense fly with the jury? president obama standing by senator harry reid, despite the majority leader's racial comments. will fellow democrats fall in line? but more people prefer this sauce. winner of the blind taste test. the sweet and savory taste of prego. it's in there.

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explosive ordinates disposal team is in morehead city. they've shut down one of the deepest ports along the east coast because of an explosion risk. a city spokeswoman says nine containers of highly explosive materials have been punctured at the port of morehead city. the officials there, again, have been recommending that the residents, folks who live throughout the downtown area be evacuated and are telling anybody else in that community who chose to stay behind to keep away from their doors and windows. a homeland security department source is telling nbc news that it's believed that the explosive in the drums is what's called petn. that is a major explosive agent in detonating cords and other variety of explosives. it notably is the same kind of explosive a nigerian man tried to use to blow up an airliner on

christmas day. other details about this chemical that many are so concerned by, it is not dangerous or explosive by itself but highly explosive it mixed with other explosives or other circumstances. it is sometimes used in the development of fuses for the military. homeland security sources are telling us that they have no indication at this point that this is anything but a forklift accident. again, that situation happening in north carolina, as we learn more information, we will bring that to you. take two. president obama is defending senate majority leader harry reid again, as reid tries to recover from his racially charged comments about president obama. take a listen to what the president had to say on an interview on tv one. >> this is a good man who has always been on the right side of history. for him to have used some inartful language in trying to praise me and for people to try to make hay out of that makes

absolutely no sense. >> msnbc contributor richard wolf is live at the white house right now. if you can, richard, this topic isn't going to go away as the president is trying to talk about all sorts of other things, including health care right now. why do you think this resonates so much? and why is it so significant? >> reporter: well, of course, it resonates because we love writing and talking about race and politics, and harry reid obviously said things that he wishes he could take back. and he is, himself, in a weak position in his home state of nevada at a time when there are big and difficult things like health care that he has to usher through congress. now, there are things that -- inside the white house, not just a sense of frustration, hearing from the president. he is saying again -- twice in two or three days, it's time to turn the page here. but there are folks in the white house who say, really, their feeling that republicans have overplayed things here. they've pushed too hard. they may have been better off leaving harry reid to dangle out

there. and because republicans have overreached it's more likely that this story comes to an end pretty quickly. >> it's interesting to note that the republican senator from nevada, john enson, came to reid's defense. how much do you think that will help him with republicans? >> reporter: well, i'm not sure it helps him with republicans, but certainly that may be a confirmation of of what some white house officials are saying in terms of republicans recognizing there's only so far they can take this. when it comes down to substance, remember, harry reid obviously is supporting an african-american president and has a good track record when it comes to things like civil rights. how far republicans want to take this? would it have been more sensible to do what happened to trent lott, let him dangle out there and suffer on his own? that's the kind of political calculation they think may be coming into play at this point. >> lot of headlines about a double standard right now and a lot of headlines about the

republican relationship to the african-american community and perhaps, as was written today, they shouldn't be whining about a democrats' words but working with the african-american community. the topic not going away any time soon. richard, thank you very much. >> reporter: thank you. the tsa wants to know how an airline passenger was able to board a flight with a bag full of ammunition. the traveler cleared all the security checkpoints at the milwaukee airport and not until he was sitting on the plane that he remembered he had his shotgun shells in his carry on. whoops. when he told the flight crew his mistake, the plane returned to the gate. the tsa let the man reboard the plane after an additional screening. another passenger said he was shocked that tsa didn't search the entire plane because for all it knew, the man could have stashed ammo elsewhere. reports of an airline bird strikes, reports have risen sharply since that us airways plane splashed down in the hudson river. you remember miracle on the

hudson. 10,000 or more bird strikes in the u.s. that is a new record. agricultural department says reports are up because they've become more diligent about reporting incidents, but growing bird population is also another reason. a judge says scott roeder can argue that his killing of late-term abortion doctor tiller can argue that he killed him because he felt he was saving unborn children. let's make sure we get this right. he is charged with first-degree murder but the judge's ruling means the jury can consider conviction on a voluntary manslaughter charge? >> right. >> how big of a change in this? how big of a game changer is this? >> huge. first of all, we're looking at the first time we've seen this in our country, someone that kills in cold blood, an abortion

doct doctor, is allowed to claim justifiable reliance. oh, i relied on the fact that he was hurting others so i shouldn't have to face first-degree murder charges. the opponents, obviously, are saying, wait, wait, wait. he wasn't hurting anyone, number one, constitutionally. number two, he wasn't hurting anyone at the time that this man killed him in cold blood in the foi foyer of his lutheran church. so, we've got a lot, a lot of angry people right now at this ruling. >> to make it clear, the evidence doesn't go away that this guy did it, but by lessening the charge it would lessen the punishment for something like this. what is the prosecution saying right now? what is their argument and where do they go from here? >> the prosecution is saying this is crazy. this man has admitted, yes, i killed him. and what would happen in first-degree murder would be a life sentence, if he is convicted. >> reporter: let's look at this on the screen, definition of voluntary manslaughter in kansas.

an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force. it seems like something perhaps in self defense, someone came in, mistakenly thought they were attacking you. you shot back and killed somebody. this guy, in cold blood, at best, he acknowledges was trying to end a life. >> right. he acknowledges and says i killed him in cold blood. what he is saying, though, is that he was saving the unborn children. unfortunately, constitutionally, those children are allowed to be aborted. >> very quickly, the legal precedent that this sets? >> huge legal precedent. it's now -- it's a complete -- >> it opens up to anybody that wants to kill someone that they believe is either -- >> they believe, without any sort of justifiable reliance could be hurting someone or performing abortions, because this person is claiming these abortions were, you know, hurting children. unfortunately, our constitution allows for this. >> that's a major headline. >> yes. >> about a hotly debated topic in this country. nice to see you.

>> nice to see you, peter. >> appreciate it. moving on to medical news out today. can watching too much tv kill you? a new australian study claims people who watch more than four hours of tv a day have an 80% higher risk of dying from heart disease. if you're watching on your treadmill, you're probably safe. it's the couch potatoes you have to worry about, in comparison to those who watch tv for two hours or less. the researchers blame tv watching and other sedentary behavior, including sitting at a desk or in front of of a computer for increased health ri risks. in texas, a war between parents and a school board over their 4-year-old son's hair. this is real. officials suspended taylor pugh in november from his pre-k class at floyd elementary school outside dallas. his parents say he is growing his hair long to donate it to his aunt, who has cancer, as part of the locks of love program. last night, the school board said he could wear his hair braided, but keep it no longer than his ears. taylor's parents said no, thanks, and reportedly are

considering taking their son and leaving the district. talk about a rude awakening, last month mike reinhart fell asleep on his train ride home, woke up five hours later, locked up in a train yard. bad times. reinhart was on the upper level of a double decker train when he woke up around 9:30 pm, he found himself on an empty train with no way out. sounds like a movie script. he was rescued a short time later, but wonders why no one checked the train. the transit company says it's only the second time it knows that this has happened in almost a decade. after years of speculation, home run great, mark mcgwire, admits to using steroids. even his admission had asterisks. we'll look at what the st. louis slugger hopes to gain by his mea culpa. a sex scandal in northern ireland could open up stalled talks with britain. details on that after a quick break. this is msnbc. [ peyton ] my brother and i are the defending champions.

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four years after hurricane katrina, a new study shows a continue continued need for mental health services for children affected by the deadly storm. researchers at virgin camera tech examined serious emotional disturbances among children. nearly 10% of kids and young adults in the study were believed to have severe mental health problems directly attributable to hurricane katrina. i apologize to everybody in major league baseball. my family, the marises, bud selig. today was the hardest day of my

life. >> there it was, a tearful mark mcgwire in an interview with bob costas on the major league network last night, former home run king finally coming clean, admitteding what everybody all along suspected, that he used steroids in the 1990s, sadly including the 1998 season when he famously as a st. louis cardinal hit the home runs breaking roger maris' record of 61. mcguire insists his steroid use stemmed from a desire to recover from injuries not to make him hit more home runs. >> the only reason i took steroids was for my health purposes. i did not take steroids to get any gain for any strength purposes. it was the era that we played in. i wish i never played in that era. i wish we had drug testing. if we had drug testing when i was playing, you and i wouldn't be having this conversation today.

i guarantee you that. >> of course, all this follows mcgwire's testimony, deflecting questions about steroid use. he never said he didn't do them, just that he's not here to talk about the past. attorney general alberto gonzalez refused to give him immunity from prosecution, he says. also mcgwire about to become the new hitting coach -- he is, but it about to report, pitchers and catchers heading down soon for the st. louis cardinals, begin spring training in five weeks. with him being denied admission four times so far to bail's hall of fame. sports reporter graham bensinger. it was interesting to me as i read "the san francisco chronicle" today. i grew up in oakland, one of my idols, the famous bash brothers, jose canseco and mark mcgwire, posters are in an attic

somewhere. he kept talking and the asterisks started piling up. he had the potential to make this huge admission, all of a sudden said this was about health not about strength. what was your reaction? >> well, i think there were a lot of -- you have to respect the fact that he came forward and admitted wrong doing. the issue is that he only said he was taking the steroids for injury purposes. he even went as far as saying that, you know, had he not taken steroids at all, he would have still achieved the same numbers statistically throughout his entire career. and, you know, i had a conversation with bob costas once. he pointed this out to me, just in terms of statistics, it was 60 home runs -- i'm sorry, 34 years between 60 home run seasons, ruth to maris. it was 37 from maris to mcgwire and there were six in 1998. there were decent to pretty good players who were putting up numbers that rivalled hall of

famers of a previous era. it's not as if players were just eating their wheaties. it's because they were taking steroids. for mcgwire to suggest that steroids had nothing to do with his incredible home run numbers -- >> costas said were the records authentic? he said completely legit. people that heard this, especially as he's trying to make an effort, to get invited to cooperstown, they're going to say, wait a second. you came clean but you didn't come clean. >> right. i certainly don't think it will help his efforts to get into the hall of fame. mcgwire, as any player does, needs 75% of the votes for induction. he has received not even 25% of the votes in any year. i do think, though, statistically, his numbers warrant induction to the hall of fame. because of that, he should be inducted. you look at the steroid era as past generations been called and unless you know -- basically, it fostered an environment that

made performance-enhancing drug usage both acceptable and common practice. unless you know every single player that took steroids, i think it's unfair to exclude a player from induction into the hall of fame if their numbers warranted. i would propose an asterisk from every player's name that is inducted in this era, called steroids era. >> a pinch hitter if that would help him get his stats back up and earn his way into cooperstown. nice to see you. former tennessee congressman harold ford reporting he is strongly considering running for the u.s. senate from new york. he may challenge kiersten gillebrand. backed by the white house. nord moved to new york more than three years ago and is also a political analyst for nbc news. rocking northern ireland,

scandal. this involves the country's first lady. it was revealed last week that 60-year-old mrs. iris robinson was having a steamy affair with a teenager. she has now been dubbed the celtic cougar and her husband has stepped down as first minister. tom aspell is following these developments in london today. you can't beat this for british tabloids. what is the latest? >> peter robinson stepped down to sort out family problems, his member of parliament wife and her 19-year-old lover, stepping down for six weeks is one way of avoiding a snap election in northern ireland and is calculated to save the power-sharing deal in which the democratic unionist party and shen feng govern the province. they want northern ireland to run its own police and justice ministry. peter?

>> tom aspell from london, thank you so much. senior al qaeda member is killed by a drone. we'll head to kabul, afghanistan, next. you're watching msnbc. the nutrid to keep their bodies strong. ( bell rings ) a nutritious start to the day is essential. that's why carnation instant breakfast essentials supplies all the nutrients of a complete breakfast. so kids get the protein and calcium they need to help build strong muscles and healthy bones. carnation instant breakfast essentials. good nutrition from the start.

we're back here on msnbc. nbc news has learned a senior al qaeda leader has been killed by a drone attack on the afghanistan/pakistan border. jim miklaszewski traveling with the troops there. he has the latest in kabul, afghanistan. give us a sense. how does this leader fit into the al qaeda organization? >> reporter: well, you know, pakistani leaders have told nbc news that mohammed madi zaden was an al qaeda operative. they describe him as a senior al qaeda operative, who was killed in one of those hell-fire missile strikes from a cia predator drone in pakistan, alongside the afghanistan border. if you talk to u.s. intelligence agents, they don't believe that

zaden was, in fact, a senior al qaeda operative, just one of many. what's important here, peter, is that this is the sixth predator drone attack since seven cia operatives were killeded in afghanistan by a suicide bomber acting as a double agent for al qaeda. at the time cia officials had said they were going to avenge those killings and, as i said, in the past ten days or so, this is the sixth strike against al qaeda there in that region, peter. >> i had the chance to meet with the family of scott robinson, at the funeral being held in atlanta. there is word today the pentagon will next 3,100 troops, i believe it is, headed to afghanistan. general mccrystal saying the troop surge in afghanistan is, in his words, working. what evidence does he have to support that? >> reporter: well, you know, it's interesting in the way he

says that it's working. general mccrystal doesn't say that they have defeated the taliban or are on their way to defeating the taliban or have even stopped the momentum of the taliban for the time being. how he characterizes it is that he says they're making progress from gaining the confidence of the afghanistan people, that the u.s. military in conjunction with the afghan government and military security forces can provide the kind of security they need. he says that's the critical part to discuss in afghanistan, gaining the confidence of the afghanistan people through increased security that will allow them some sense of normalcy after 30 years of war in this country. >> mick, we see general mccrystal was on our screen a second ago and there was a poll released, i think it was just yesterday, that shows nearly seven in ten afghans support the president's u.s. forces and 60% of americans -- 60%, excuse me, favor the surge going on there.

have you had a chance -- being in afghanistan, i know how challenging this is. have you had a chance to interact with the afghan people and hear what any of them are saying about this? >> reporter: it's interesting. if you ask them if they want the americans to stay, they're even conflicted themselves. they do want the americans to stay just long enough to provide that security we talked about, but then they want them to leave. ultimately, deep down inside, afghans want to take control of their own country, as difficult as that has proven over the years. >> jim miklaszewski in kabul, afghanistan, be safe. thanks for your reporting today, mick. we appreciate it. >> reporter: you bet, peter. take care. a clerical error is to blame, they say, for a news release as a living marine killed in action. from bakersfield, california, lance corporal mark d.juarez

died in helman province. the texan one of two hawaii based marines killed this week, jake on minor of wisconsin also died sunday. that's going to wrap it up for me on this hour of msnbc. i'm peter alexander. joining you next, "andrea mitchell reports." you a cop? no. you didn't hear from me, but this malibu is a best buy. i heard that from consumers digest. it offers better highway mileage than a comparable camry or accord. estimated 33 highway. i saw that on the epa site. so how come the malibu costs so little. it's a chevy. you have cop hair. the award-winning chevy malibu. compare it to anyone and may the best car win.